Zotac has announced its newest ZBOX mini-PCs which will be a part of the M-series, the Zotac ZBOX MI551 with Intel Core i5-6400T Skylake CPU.

As a part of Zotac's M-series, the new ZBOX MI551 is based on a rather small 188x188x44mm chassis but still packs quite a few features. The heart of the ZBOX MI551 mini-PC is Intel's 100-series chipset paired up with Intel's Core i5-6400T CPU. This quad-core CPU is based on Skylake architecture, has 6MB of L3 cache and works at 2.2GHz base and 2.8GHz maximum Turbo clocks. It unfortunately lacks Hyper Threading support, but has a low 35W TDP, Intel HD Graphics 530 GPU and a dual-channel DDR3L-1600 and DDR4-2133 memory support.

While it might have DDR4 support, Zotac decided use DDR3L memory on the ZBOX MI551 so it features two DDR3L SODIMM slots with support for up to 16GB of DDR3L-1600 memory. When it comes to storage, the ZBOX MI551 has a single 2.5-inch SATA 6Gbps port, one M.2 SATA SSD slot and a 3-in-1 card reader. Connectivity wise, it features a single USB 3.1 Type-C port at the front as well as two USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0 port, dual Gigabit Ethernet, integrated 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, two DisplayPort and single HDMI output. It is also important to note that ZBOX MI551 uses active cooling, so those looking for a completely silent system should look elsewhere.

The ZBOX MI551 will be available as a barebone version and as a Plus version, which includes 4GB of DDR3L-1600 memory and 120GB M.2 SATA SSD.

Unfortunately, Zotac did not reveal any details regarding the price or the actual availability date for the new ZBox MI551 mini-PC.

Zotac has announced two new ZBOX mini-PCs, both based on the same 14nm Intel Braswell Celeron N3150 SoC, the ZBOX BI323 and the ZBOX CI323 nano.

Both newly announced ZBOX mini-PCs from Zotac feature the same Intel Celeron N3150 Braswell quad-core processor with base clock of 1.6GHz and 2.08GHz Turbo clock. The Intel Celeron N3150 packs 2MB of L2 cache, Intel HD graphics, has a 6W TDP and supports up to 8GB DDR3L memory.

The rest of the specifications on both ZBOX systems include support for up to 8GB of DDR3L-1600 memory in two slots, one 2.5-inch SATA HDD/SSD port, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0, 3-in-1 card reader, a couple of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, including USB Type-C port, and D-Sub, DisplayPort and HDMI outputs. The ZBOX CI323 nano also appears to pack a dual Gigabit Ethernet.

While the specifications on both systems are pretty much the same, the difference between these two are in in their form-factor and size. The Zotac ZBOX BI323 has a more narrower but taller design and uses an active cooling system for the Celeron N3150 SoC, while the ZBOX CI323 nano has a more of a standard box-design and is apparently passively cooled.

Unlike some earlier Zotac Zbox mini-PCs, which were available in barebone and Plus versions, the new ZBOX BI323 and the ZBOX CI323 nano will be available in three versions. These include the standard barebone version which comes without memory, storage and OS, a Plus version, which apparently features 4GB of memory and 120GB SSD, and a Windows 10 Home version, with 2GB of memory and a 32GB M.2 SSD with pre-install Windows 10 Home OS.

Zotac did not announce any details regarding the price but we expect them to show up in retail/e-tail soon so we will have a general idea on the price.

Zotac has unveiled its latest ZBOX mini-PC system, the Magnus EN970, which will pack a bit more punch than your average mini-PC.

Based on Intel's Core i5-5200U Broadwell CPU and Nvidia Geforce GTX 960 graphics card with 3GB of GDDR5 memory, the Magnus EN970 will pack some serious performance in a chassis that still puts it in the mini-PC category, thanks to its 210x203x52.5mm dimensions.

The Core i5-5200U Broadwell dual-core CPU is clocked at 2.2GHz with 2.7GHz Turbo, features support for Intel Hyper Threading, packs 3MB of L2 cache and has a 15W TDP. While the same CPU comes with Intel HD 5500 GPU, Zotac decided to pair it up with a rather powerful Maxwell-based GTX 960 graphics card with 1280 CUDA cores and 3GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 192-bit memory interface.

The rest of the specifications include support for up to 16GB of DDR3L-1600 SO-DIMM memory in two slots, support for single M.2 and two 2.5-inch storage devices, four HDMI 2.0 outputs, integrated 802.11ac with Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet, 3-in-1 card reader, two USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0 ports.

As was the case with previous Zotac ZBOX mini-PCs, the new ZBOX Magnus EN970 will also be available as a barebones and as a plus version that will ship with a 120GB M.2 SATA SSD and 8GB of DDR3L-1600MHz SO-DIMM memory.

Unfortunately, Zotac did not reveal any details regarding the price or the precise release date.

Zotac has unveiled the new R Series in its well known ZBox Mini PC lineup which will feature two models, The ZBox RI323 and the Zbox RI531, both base on Intel's CPUs.

What is quite interesting is that the new ZBox R Series Mini Series PCs offer RAID support in a small Mini PC package. Both new R Series ZBox models are quite similar as both are packed in the same chassis, feature support for up to 16GB of DDR3-1600 memory in two SO-DIMM slots, have two 2.5-inch SATA slots, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 3.0 ports, COM port and support for RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD.

The more interesting, ZBox RI531, is based on Intel's Broadwell Core i3-5010U dual-core CPU with Hyper-Threading. This CPU is clocked at 2.1GHz, comes with 3MB of L3 cache and packs Intel HD Graphics 5500. The ZBox RI531 will also offer an additional mSATA SSD slot and will be available as a Plus version, with 4GB of DDR3 memory and 64GB mSATA SSD.

The ZBox RI323 is not bad either but will not be available as a Plus version but only as a barebone and lacks the aforementioned mSATA SSD slot. It is based on a well known 22nm Intel Haswell dual-core Celeron 2961Y CPU clocked at 1.1GHz.

According to Zotac, both should be available quite soon with a price set at €199 for the ZBox RI323 and €349 and €459 for Zbox RI531 in barebone and Plus versions, respectively.

Zotac’s ZBOX mini PCs are getting some fresh silicon, in the form of 14nm Intel Broadwell parts.

The first to models to get the latest Intel chips are the ZBOX MI522 and MI542. We won’t waste much time talking about the design of Zotac’s mini PCs, since it hasn’t changed in years.

However, the company regularly updates the internals, so the new MI522 is getting a dual-core Core i3-5010U processor clocked at 2.1GHz. The MI542 is going upmarket with the Core i5-5200U processor, clocked at 2.2GHz (2.7GHz on Turbo).

We’ve reviewed a number of Zotac mini PCs over the years and we have a rather good opinion about them. Our only complaint is the fact that Zotac doesn’t redesign the boxes – even cars don’t sell five years without a mid-life redesign or a whole new design.

As usual, the new Broadwell ZBOXes will be available as barebones and as complete Plus models. You get two DDR3 SODIMM slots, 2.5-inch drive bay and the latest connectivity options you can imagine.

Zotac has been in the mini-PC space for years now, and it has managed to carve out a nice niche for itself. The EN760 can replace an ITX or mATX system in many scenarios.

Zotac has been in the mini-PC space for years now, and it has managed to carve out a nice niche for itself.

It all started with cheap Atom-powered nettops, but over the years Zotac’s ZBOX line has expanded to include more serious mini-PCs with gaming credentials, ultra-small Pico boxes, passively cooled designs and stylish models like the Sphere, which we reviewed last year.

Today we will be taking a look at the ZBOX EN760 Plus, which has been on the market for some time already, but it is still one of the fastest mini-PCs out there. It will remain one of the fastest ZBOX units until the company introduces the SN970 Steam Machine, based on sixth-generation Syklake processors and Nvidia GTX 970M graphics.

Zotac recently announced a refresh of the EN760, swapping out the GTX860M graphics with the recently introduced GTX960M. However, since this is merely a rebranded GPU with slightly higher clocks, we won’t see much of a performance gain.

The reason why we don’t see more potent GPUs in small form factor machines is obvious – they generate too much heat and need a lot of room. That’s why mobile GPUs are used in most mini PCs. Otherwise, designers would have to increase the size of the chassis to accommodate the cooling system, thus defeating the point of small form factor (SFF) PCs altogether.

Luckily, the latest GPUs from Nvidia and AMD are all about efficiency, so even mobile parts can deliver a lot of performance. The GTX 860M is a good candidate for an SFF box and Zotac was one of the first vendors to implement it in a desktop machine, rather than a laptop.

The EN760 is an all-black gaming rig, packed in Zotac’s oldest ZBOX form factor with a 19x19cm footprint. This form factor provides enough airflow to keep the EN760’s thermals under control. The upcoming SN970 will have updated case, with more space inside for better airflow (21x21cm), since the more powerful CPU and GPU dissipate more heat.

The ZBOX EN760 sports an Nvidia GTX 860M mobile GPU, which is based on Maxwell architecture. The Geforce GTX 860M employs a GM107 GPU, with G-Sync and 4K 60Hz support. NVIDIA has placed 2048MB GDDR5 memory on the MXM module card. The memory uses a 128-bit bus. It features 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units and 16 ROPs.

The GTX 860M is currently used in many gaming laptops. It provides decent performance, comparable to the desktop graphics cards of the Geforce GTX 750/ Geforce GTX 750Ti series. Depending on the level of in-game details, 1080p gaming should not be a problem (you can check our GTX 750 review here).

The ZBOX EN760 is based on the Intel Core i5-4200U processor, just like the ZBOX Sphere, we reviewed it here. It’s a hyperthreaded dual-core clocked at 1.6GHz, but it can hit 2.6GHz on Turbo, all in a conservative 15W TDP envelope. The Core i5-4200U features Intel HD 4400 graphics, clocked between 200MHz and 1000MHz, but the ZBOX relies on the discrete GTX 860M.

So what’s the difference between the EN760 and the refreshed EN860? The latter is based on a Core i5-4210U processor, clocked at 1.7GHz/2.7 GHz and DisplayPort support is also on board. Other specs, like the GPU, are unchanged.

It is also worth noting that the EN760 is available as a barebone or as a complete system, in which case it bears the Plus moniker. Keep in mind that there's no operating system installed. The upcoming SN970 Steam Machine will ship with preinstalled Steam OS.

The EN760 Plus version ships with a single 8GB 1600MHz SO-DIMM module, courtesy of Crucial, as well as a Samsung branded 1TB 5400rpm hard drive. This drive is kind of slow, but it is often used in similar devices or notebooks due to its high capacity and low price.

In addition to the 2.5-inch bay, there’s also a 6Gbps mSATA slot, and mSATA on board. This is very convenient option if you get a Plus version, as you can add an mSATA system drive and use the pre-installed 1TB drive for storage.

If you are interested in performance benefits from using two memory modules and an mSATA drive please check our Sphere review. We learned that the biggest boost in overall performance in this case comes from faster storage, not dual-channel memory.

For the users who are considering a barebone version, or upgrading the Plus model, we tested the performance of an SSD build versus a standard HDD configuration.

The necessary drivers for the EN760 Plus are supplied on a USB flash drive. This way you can easily install the drivers after you install the operating system, so that you get the WiFi adapter and Bluetooth up and running.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

The ZBOX EN760 measures 188 x 188 x 44mm, and can be placed horizontally or vertically, or mounted on the wall/TV/monitor using the included VESA mount.

The side with the Zotac logo features fluorescent lighting arranged behind a semi-translucent circle, which livens up the device with a warm, orange glow. Should you find it distracting while watching TV, you can switch it off in BIOS settings.To stand the box up vertically, you'll need to use a small stand. We’ve seen the identical form factor a few times, so we won’t waste time on the details.

The vents on top of the chassis (when the EN760 is stood vertically) serve as hot air outlets.

This compact size is pretty impressive for a full blown gaming PC. Although there are a few smaller nettops/mini-PCs/NUCs on the market, most of them offer inferior performance, especially in the GPU department.

The chassis is made of plastic, but feels quite sturdy. Zotac fashioned the top and bottom coers out of high gloss plastic, or piano black if you like, so the ZBOX should look great next to your TV. They show a lot of fingerprints and smudges, but luckily cleaning is very easy. We would like to see usage of PC+ABS plastic with a smooth, matte finish. Matte black is also a good match for many offices sand living rooms. Still, fingerprints aren’t much of an issue – after all this is not a mobile device and once you install it, you’re not likely to touch it that often.

Matte plastic is used on the rest of the chassis. We were very happy to see that the upcoming SN970 will feature white cover with Steam logo.

The ZBOX EN series features plenty of expansion options for its form factor.Hidden behind a rubber flap on the top there’s one USB 3.0 port. This is very nice addition since we have only one USB port on the front side. Two more USB 3.0 ports are on the back.

The front offers an easily accessible USB port, card reader, a headphone line out, a mic input and an infra-red port, along with status LEDs and the power button.

On the back side we have two USB 3.0 ports, two Ethernet ports, an HDMI port, a DVI port, an optical audio output, Bluetooth and two wireless antennas. Power connector is also on the back side. The ZBOX EN760 features a passive, external DC adapter.

Zotac ships the ZBOX with a simple yet sturdy vertical stand and a VESA mount. The VESA mount is adjustable as you can see on our photos, but some caution is advised. In case you plan on using it on your TV, be sure to double-check the dimensions, as there are a few different standards.

A peek under the bonnet

Accessing the components is a straightforward affair and all one has to do is undo a couple of screws to reveal the tiny interior.

It’s not as cramped as notebook, but it’s not far off, either. Still there is enough room for cooling and upgrades are a walk in the park. The ZBOX EN760 features plenty of expansion options for its form factor – four USB 3.0 ports, SDXC card reader, two SO-DIMM slots, and an mSATA slot along with a standard 2.5-inch bay. This should be more than enough for the average user.

The 15W CPU and Geforce GPU are covered by a slim vapor chamber heatsink. The whole cooling system looks like a single slot blower cooler used on desktop graphics cards.

The Plus version ships with a single Crucial 8GB SO-DIMM module and a 1TB 5400rpm hard drive. Adding an extra memory module requires some tinkering, as you have to take out the hard drive, but this is very easy, since it’s kept in place by a single screw.

If you want to make your ZBOX even faster, you can take advantage of the mSATA slot and adding this takes mere seconds. SATA 6Gbps support is onboard, so it’s possible to install some lightning fast solid state storage to complement the HDD.

Thermals and noise

As far as cooling and noise are concerned, we can say Zotac did a very good job, considering the unit’s performance and its compact size. Previous ZBOX models were relatively quiet, too, which wasn’t the case with many nettops, including some from much bigger brands. The EN760 is silent until you crank up the GPU and start gaming. Even then, the small blower fan is not too loud, but you can hear it clearly.

When it’s placed horizontally, the EN760 stands on four rubber feet and there is a fair amount of clearance, so there is enough room for airflow.

The GPU temperature does not exceed 71 degrees Celsius. The CPU temperature is somewhat higher though.

GPUZ - idle

GPUZ - load

Aida64 - CPU thermals

Test Results

Like we already said, we tested the EN760 as a stock Plus model, with a 1TB 5400rpm drive, and with an SSD.

An SSD system drive obviously helps reduce boot and load times, improving overall responsiveness. However, as far as gaming performance goes, there’s not much of a difference – the CPU and GPU are the bottlenecks.

Still, an SSD system drive is a very good investment. It simply makes everything feel a bit more fluid. The boot time with an SSD is about 19 seconds, but with the standard hard drive you’re looking at a minute or so.

Bottom line – if you own EN760 Plus version get an mSATA drive, it’s worth it.

In the PCMark 8 storage test, the Toshiba SSD THNSNJ256GCSU 256GB performed much better than standard HDD. However in the PCMark 8 home conventional test, there is only small advantage when using SSD.

Conclusion

The ZBOX EN760/EN860 are Zotac’s way of catering to people who want a very compact PC, but still need good GPU performance for the occasional gaming session. It’s like a home theater system that can also run some of the latest games in 1080p.

The EN760 Plus is a capable compact gaming machine thanks to its Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M graphics processor. Competition in the mini PC segment is heating up. There are some models, with more powerful CPUs and solid state storage, but few can match the ZBOX EN760 in the gaming departments.

The ZBOX EN760 is a tad bigger than an external 3.5-inch HDD enclosure but it is packed with a host of connectors on all sides. It is a very convenient form factor, as you can slip it into any backpack or even a briefcase.

Zotac has two versions of the EN760. The Plus version comes with 8GB of RAM and a 1TB HDD, and is available for €750. The second option is a barebones system, which requires the user to install the memory and storage. It costs €550

One reason for getting the barebones version would be to repurpose old hardware, namely 2.5-inch SSDs or hard drives, maybe even SO-DIMM modules. You can either reuse old hardware, or go all out, get a 7200rpm drive or hybrid SSHD, along with a fast mSATA drive and dual-channel memory.

The EN760 was recently refreshed and the new EN860 version shares its appearance and most of the specs. You get a marginally faster Core i5-4210U processor but the same Geforce graphics.

To sum up, the Zotac ZBOX EN760 can serve as the primary PC in many homes and offices. However, this also means that marketing departments have a bit of a problem to deal with – many consumers associate mini-PCs with underpowered nettops, but configurations like the EN760/EN860, Sphere OI520, Gigabyte Brix Pro or high-end Intel NUC models are changing the game. They can replace an ITX or mATX system in many scenarios.

Zotac already has a couple of ZBOX models designed around relatively powerful mobile GPUs, but the new ZBOX MN321 Plus is a bit different.

The MN321 Plus is not a pricey powerhouse, it features entry level silicon at a modest price. It is based on dual-core Intel Celeron 2957U clocked at 1.4GHz, backed by an Nvidia Geforce GT720M GPU. The system also features 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

The old, Fermi-based GT720M doesn't pack much of a punch, but it's still faster than the Intel HD Graphics you'd get on the Celeron. With 96 shaders the GPU should be able to run older titles, or some less demanding genres, but realistically it's slower than the latest IGPs found on 2014 Intel and AMD processors. In any case, the antiquated Geforce features 1GB of memory, which is a nice touch, and provides DVI and HDMI 1.4a outputs.

Four USB 3.0 ports are on board, along with a couple of USB 2.0 ports, a card reader, optical audio along with two 3.5mm jacks – but there is no WiFi/Bluetooth card, so you’ll have to get a USB dongle.

The spec is not impressive, but then again the MN321 Plus is priced at €299 and ships with Windows 8.1 64-bit. This makes it marginally more expensive than nettops based on Bay Trail or Kabini chips, yet it offers a bit more serious CPU and GPU.

If Zotac introduces a barebones version, sans Windows and mechanical storage, it should be an even better deal, plus it will allow you to repurpose an old SSD as a system drive.

Oh yeah, and the design is still Zotac’s dull ZBOX layout which has been around for years. It’s really time for a redesign guys.

Zotac has introduced a number of new ZBOX mini-PC at CES 2015 and we’ll take a quick look at the most interesting SKUs so far.

The ZBOX EN860 is an all-black gaming rig, packed in Zotac’s oldest ZBOX form factor with a 19x19cm footprint. It’s an upgrade of the EN760, which launched six months ago. However, there is no word on the spec (the “old” EN760 sports a Core i5-4200U and GTX 860M graphics). The new SKU features the same GPU, with G-Sync and 4K 60Hz support, but other than that we don’t have any info.

However, the company also released two new Pico models and the specs are out, thanks to Liliputing. The ZBOX Pico PI330 is based on an Intel Atom Z3375 quad-core (Bay Trail) processor and features 4GB of LPDDR3-1066 memory. It comes with 64GB of eMMC storage, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, 802.11n wireless and Bluetooth.

The ZBOX Pico PA330 comes with somewhat more interesting silicon, in the form of AMD’s A4-6400T SoC with AMD R3 graphics. This is a Mullins part and to the best of our knowledge it is the first ZBOX based on Mullins (Zotac has a number of Kabini SKUs though).

However, the rest of the spec does not keep up with the Intel SKU, as the PA330 comes with 2GB of DDRL-1333 memory and a paltry 32GB of eMMC storage. On the upside, it does have somewhat better connectivity, with 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0.

Both models come with three USB ports, HDMI and mini DisplayPort video output, audio connector, miniSD/SDHC/SDXC card reader and a VESA mount. The dimensions are truly pocketable – just 115x55x19mm – roughly the size of a chubby 2.5-inch external drive.

There is still no word on the pricing, but first-gen Pico models were relatively affordable, considering they shipped with Windows 8.1 Bing Edition.

Zotac has been in the nettop and mini-PC space for more than four years now and it has managed to carve out a nice niche for itself. From humble beginnings, i.e. cheap Atom- and Brazos-powered nettops, Zotac’s ZBOX line has expanded to include more serious mini-PCs with gaming credentials, ultra-small Pico boxes, passively cooled designs and stylish models like the Sphere.

If you are in the market for a spherical PC, then the Zotac ZBOX Sphere OI520 is the one to go for – namely because it is the only one out there. The minimalistic Sphere offers a truly unique design and is bound to turn heads and start conversations. But is it just a triumph of style over substance, all too common in the tech industry today? That’s up to you to decide, so here are some facts.

Let's play ball!

The Sphere is based on the Intel Core i5-4200U processor, arguably the most prolific Haswell U-series part on the market. It’s a hyperthreaded dual-core clocked at 1.6GHz, but it can hit 2.6GHz on Turbo, all in a cool 15W TDP envelope. The Core i5-4200U features Intel HD 4400 graphics, clocked between 200MHz and 1000MHz. The Sphere features four USB 3.0 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 801.22ac and Bluetooth 4.0. HDMI and DisplayPort are on board and the Sphere is 4K compatible.

The Plus version ships with a single 4GB PC3-12800 SO-DIMM module, courtesy of Crucial, as well as a Samsung branded 500GB 5400rpm hard drive, which is actually a rebadged Seagate Momentus-B drive. The average Fudzilla reader (i.e. enthusiast) is bound to spot a couple of issues – the use of a single memory module on a dual-channel platform, as well as a sluggish hard drive.

The Sphere rests on five relatively large rubber feet

Luckily the Sphere can accommodate two SO-DIMM modules and in addition to the 2.5-inch bay, there’s also a 6Gbps mSATA slot on board. So we went ahead and did what most of our readers would do – we added an mSATA solid state drive and swapped out the single memory module for a 2x4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3L kit.

Was it worth it? Well of course it was, otherwise we wouldn’t have bothered, but we'll get to that later.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

When it comes to the ZBOX series, one of our biggest complaints was the lack of a comprehensive redesign over the past four years. While there were a number of tweaks and new form factors, the basic design language did not change until the Sphere came along. So, instead of small, incremental redesigns each year, Zotac decided to make up for four years of lethargy and predictable designs with something completely different, a radical redesign. Some may argue it went too far, but personally I don’t think so.

Kensington in lower left corner, note the alignment indentation at the front

The basic design is ballsy in more ways than one, pardon the pun. As its name suggests, the Sphere is an almost perfect 154mm diameter sphere, with small cut-outs at the back. The overall dimensions, with the chamfered box stand, are 154x154x161mm and the whole contraption weighs just 780g, less than an average 10-inch convertible tablet with a keyboard dock.

Lone USB 2.0, right hand side

However, there is a price to pay for the minimal design, as all the ports are located at the back, apart from a lone USB 2.0 port on the right side. Most users probably won’t mind, although a USB 3.0 on the side would have been preferable.

We're just showing off here

Zotac used PC+ABS plastic with a smooth, matte finish. Matte black is a good match for most offices sand living rooms, but we would really like to see a white option. It would make the Sphere stand out even more and attract more consumers, or at least help some of them justify the purchase to their significant other. On the other hand, a white version could be an invitation to a lawsuit from Pixar.

The top can be removed with no tools – just twist it off counter-clockwise and that’s it. The Sphere looks pretty good even with the top off, like something you'd expect to see inside a Borg cube.

Despite the volume, the components are tightly packed

The cover is about 2mm thick, which makes it relatively sturdy for a desktop. The top rests on a translucent ring, lit up by a PCB housing an array of blue LEDs, giving the Sphere a space-age orb look, with a glowing equator so to speak.

The circular LED PCB is huge

The light show is controlled by a Holtek chip, which rests at the bottom of the round LED PCB.

Section of LED array exposed at the top

A peek under the bonnet

Although some reviewers complained that the hemispheric bonnet is flimsy and easy to break, this is a desktop and it’s not like someone will play ball with it around the office, or hit it with a brick. Then again, some reviewers whined about the lack of expansion options, but anyone who complains about a ‘lack of expansion options’ on a tiny mini-PC really has no place reviewing hardware to begin with.

Aside from legacy DVI and VGA connectors, everyt standard is accounted for

Actually, as far as sane people go, the ZBOX Sphere features plenty of expansion options for its form factor – an abundance of USB 3.0 ports, two SO-DIMM slots, and an mSATA slot along with a standard 2.5-inch bay.

At first glance it looks like the bay could accommodate any drive regardless of height, but looks are deceiving – it’s a tight for the preinstalled 9.5mm drive. While it’s a minor issue, it prevents the use of many old hard drives (e.g. obsolete USB 2.0 external drives), or even some current models, such as high-capacity 2TB drives (yes, Toshiba still does 15mm drives).

Note the machined grooves on either side of the shroud - they barely miss the 2.5-in 9.5mm drive and motherboard, there is no room for bigger drives

The wireless card can be swapped out, although we don't see why anyone would need to upgrade it, and there's an SDXC card reader at the back. So, in terms of upgradeability, the Sphere actually scores a bit better than the average mini-PC.

HDD screw in lower left corner, next to the SO-DIMM slots

The tiny PCB is slightly angled down toward the front, but all replaceable components are easily accessible. You just need a screwdriver to release the 2.5-inch drive, but everything else is tool-free. Due to the specific layout, the wiring (flat cable and wifi) doesn’t leave a very good impression, so it is necessary to exercise caution while tinkering with the insides, otherwise you could damage one of the cables.

The fan is practically inaudible in most situations

As far as cooling and noise are concerned, we are pleased to report that Zotac did an exceptional job. Previous ZBOX models were relatively quiet, too, which wasn’t the case with many nettops, including some from much bigger brands.

The 15W CPU is covered by a slim heatsink and heat is transferred through a single heatpipe, which curves down to the bottom, where heat is quietly dissipated. The fan is located at the bottom of the chassis and the main exhaust is at the back, underneath the IO panel.

Most of the heat is transferred to the bottom via the heatpipe, which is where the main exhaust is located

However, the voluminous design also allows airflow around the PCB, which cools components at the top of the board – the memory modules, 2.5-inch drive and mSATA drive. Air is then removed via three small vents above the PCB and IO panel.

Three small vents at the top

The end result is impressive. This is the quietest ZBOX we had a chance to test, although we did not get a chance to test one of Zotac’s passive models yet.

Zotac Sphere barebones build

Since Zotac OI520 Plus reviews went live months ago, we decided to take the road less travelled and treat the review sample as a barebones box, well, a barebones sphere in this case. We saw no point in doing just another review of a Plus unit with the stock configuration, so we wanted to check out how it would do with two memory modules and an mSATA system drive.

2Chan/b/ - two sticks of speedy Kingston HyperX memory

Kingston provided us with a speedy HyperX Impact Black DDR3L 8GB kit (4GBx2). Granted, this 1866MHz (PC3L-14900S) memory kit is overkill for this type of machine, as it would feel at home in much pricier gaming laptops, but we are not showing off – we are simply trying to prove a point.

The Crucial stock memory used in the Plus model is good enough, but you get just one module. It’s a trade-off, Zotac could have used a kit, which would increase the price and limit upgradeability, but instead it used a single module, leaving the second slot free for future upgrades, saving a couple of bucks at the cost of a performance penalty.

2012 vintage ADATA mSATA drive

We also got a cheap 64GB mSATA SSD to act as the system drive. After some consideration, we found that ADATA’s relatively old XPG SX300 drive ticked all the right boxes – it’s cheap, yet delivers 550MB/s read and 485MB/s write performance, with 25k/65k read/write IOPS. The unit is based on the SandForce SF-2281 controller and despite its age the drive still delivers solid performance.

So what sort of performance gain did we get with the added hardware?

Swanky, innit?

The tweaks made quite a difference in most benchmarks, but the subjective impression was even better. Even with a relatively old SSD, the system boots in mere seconds, wakes up instantly and is more responsive in every situation. The increased amount of memory and the slightly higher clock may not make a huge difference given the intended role of the system, but dual-channel memory can have a big impact on iGPU performance, so let's start there.

Zotac Sphere OI520 Plus vs. barebones GPU performance

We did not have enough time to run comprehensive gaming tests – after all this is not a gaming rig, but based on external sources and tests, HD 4400 performance can be boosted by 20-30% percent simply by adding another stick of RAM.

The gains depend on the memory speed, latency, screen resolution and of course the choice of game engine. As far as synthetic tests go, in 3DMark Fire Strike the stock Plus version with single-channel 4GB 1600MHz RAM scores 538, but with two sticks of 1866MHz memory we got 633, which translates into a 17.5% gain. In proper games you are likely to get even more.

Still nowhere near discrete GPUs, but on a par with office rigs and most notebooks

It may not sound like much, after all this is still an integrated GPU, but it’s a big gain that can make the difference between playable and unplayable framerates. In case you plan to use the Sphere for some casual gaming – go for a dual-channel setup.

As far as real games go, we found a dusty copy of Call of Duty: MW2 and got playable framerates at 720p, with 2xAA and relatively high detail settings.

The Sphere should have no problem dealing with many older titles at 720p, or even 1080p depending on the genre.

Playable, but not very smooth depending on the level of action

There are a couple of things to consider. Intel's IGPs are no longer the dreary affairs they used to be and the HD 4400 (GT2) is not even close to being the fastest Intel IGP out there, as it sports just 20 execution units. AMD's latest IGPs are of course better and we prefer them over Intel solutions, but there is a catch – most reviewers tend to run the latest games even on underpowered IGPs, so AMD's VLIW4 and GCN cores fare much better, due to superior architecture and driver support. The gap closes in older titles, the ones you are more likely to be able to run on IGPs, hence AMD's seemingly big 'benchmarketing' advantage melts away in many real life situations.

The HD 4400 is no slouch and the Sphere is 4K/UHD capable, making it quite a bit more future-proof. Prices of 4K TVs are tumbling and any serious media PC in 2015 simply has to support 4K. Remember that dual-band radio? It should come in handy for video streaming and could even be used for in-home game streaming. Launch a game on your big rig and enjoy it on your big screen, courtesy of Steam.

Streaming offers another use case for living room PCs. If only more vendors supported hardware-agnostic streaming (yes, we're looking at you Nvidia).

Overall Sphere barebones vs. Plus performance

Now let's take a look at overall performance, boosted by solid state storage and of course dual-channel memory.

As far as memory performance goes, our barebones Sphere wipes the floor with the stock OI 520 Plus in AIDA64. The Plus version scores 12,189 MB/s in the memory bandwidth test, with a latency of 77.1ns. The barebones Sphere scored 22,063 MB/s and 69.3ns. The effect of dual-channel memory on CPU performance is not as evident as in GPU tests, but you are still looking at some minor improvements, usually on the order of 5% in CPU-bound applications.

The biggest boost in overall performance comes from faster storage, not memory. Although we used a dirt cheap SSD launched in 2012, the storage test ended up looking like a confrontation between a Zumwalt-class destroyer and a Somali pirate dinghy. However, the old ADATA drive is all over the place in terms of bench results, as you can see in the screenshots.

Bear in mind that this is a relatively dated model and if you are willing to invest in a current generation SSD, the performance gap is bound to be even wider.

An HDD is simply not a good match for a Core i5 Haswell, even in ULV flavour, as it bottlenecks performance.

Although it's a bottleneck, the HDD offers solid performance - but the rest of the system is just too fast

If we were dealing with a Bay Trail or Kabini nettop, adding a speedy SSD would still make a difference, but a much smaller difference, as the CPU would eventually end up bottlenecking the system. Using an HDD on such low-end systems is still justifiable, but it really doesn't make much sense on a Core i5 system.

The 500GB HDD is not slow, but even the moody ADATA SSD leaves it in the dust

The OI520 Plus scores 2161 in PCMark 8 (Home), but our barebones OI520 hit 2817. That's a 30% boost in one of the most popular and accurate general performance benchmarks out there.

Actually, overall performance is so good that Zotac may have a bit of a marketing problem on its hands – many consumers associate mini-PCs with underpowered nettops, but configurations like the Sphere OI520, Gigabyte Brix Pro or high-end Intel NUC models are powerful enough to serve as the primary PC in most homes and offices. The Sphere also looks the part.

The OI520 is fast enough for the vast majority of office users, regardless of storage configuration

Perhaps it is time for Zotac to start offering a new tier of ZBOX Plus models based on 'big core' CPUs, with dual-channel memory and fast solid state storage? George Orwell would probably brand them DoublePlusGood.

As far as the whole barebones idea is concerned, our only complaint is the 2.5-inch bay. With so much volume to go around, designers could have found a few extra millimetres to accommodate even 15mm drives, allowing users to reuse old drives or install a 2TB 15mm drive. In theory, there is enough room to fit two 2.5-inch bays, but this would inevitably make the design costlier and more difficult to cool and assemble. However, it would be a boon for DIY lovers keen to reuse old 2.5-inch SSDs and HDDs. But that's just nitcpicking – even the 2.5-inch/mSATA combo is better than what you’d get on most mini-PCs.

Thermals, power consumption, noise

The Zotac OI520 is a cool customer, which is no surprise thanks to the 22nm Haswell processor with a 15W TDP. Under prolonged full load, the CPU temperature can hit 60-65 degrees Celsius, but that’s really not a realistic scenario, since very few people will run demanding applications or games on such a system.

The Core i5-4200U is relatively powerful and doesn’t have to break a sweat in everyday tasks such as browsing, office applications and media consumption. In that case the CPU temperature will usually hovers in the 35-40 degree range, depending on ambient temperature, which is excellent. Unlike underpowered Atoms, Celerons and low-end AMD APUs, the Core i5 simply doesn’t have to work hard most of the time, resulting in less heat, less noise and practically no throttling.

PCMark 8 indicates the Core i5 does not have to work hard and operate on peak Turbo clocks too often

This also reflects on the power consumption – it’s extremely low and shouldn’t go over 30W under load, staying south of the 9W mark when idling. It can go up by a couple of watts if you add more hardware or use one of the four USB 3.0 ports for an external hard drive, but that’s about it. The Sphere needs as much power as a cheap two-bulb lamp from IKEA.

We already pointed out that this is the quietest actively cooled ZBOX PC we ever tested. Thanks to its relatively large volume and shape, the Sphere acts as a muffler. In normal use it is practically inaudible and even under full load it’s difficult to hear the fan, even in a quiet room. Unfortunately we had no access to professional grade audio equipment, but a few basic tests revealed that idle noise ranges from 31-33db. Better yet, it barely goes up under load, staying under 35db at all times. Many small systems quickly leap from 30db to 40+db under load.

Conclusion

We can easily recommend the ZBOX OI520 Sphere, not just because it has a quirky design, but because it’s has the brains to go along with the neat looks.

Just a size comparison - the Sphere is more compact that it may seem at first glance

In terms of value, most small form factor PCs tend to carry a premium and the Sphere is no exception – the barebones SKU costs around €350 in Euroland, while the Plus version goes for €440 in the DACH market. In the US, Newegg lists the barebones OI520 at $389. It’s no more expensive than comparable models from other vendors, so it’s just a matter of perspective. To some extent, the mini-PC premium is offset by lower power consumption and the knowledge that you’re making a family of polar bears happy. If you need an 'always-on system', or an small office system, the reduction in power consumption could be significant – a couple of dozen watts versus a standard desktop every hour does is not pocket change over the course of a PC's lifecycle.

The frugal Core i5-4200U processor delivers good all-round performance and the integrated HD 4400, backed by dual-channel memory, should suffice for casual gaming, older titles or undemanding genres. Zotac has a habit of spicing up ZBOX designs with loads of connectivity options and the Sphere is no exception. Thanks to 802.11ac wireless and Bluetooth 4.0, it’s a good streaming platform, and let’s not forget 4K support and four USB 3.0 ports. None of these standards are likely to become outdated for years to come.

Bottom line, the Sphere is a well-designed, future-proof PC and we feel the barebones SKU is a somewhat better choice. The Plus versions ships sans OS anyway and you’re better off getting two sticks of RAM and a cheap mSATA drive instead. If you happen to have an old 2.5-inch hard drive, even better, as long as it’s not a 12.5mm or 15mm unit.

Zotac has managed to gain a foothold in the mini-PC segment with its ZBOX series of diminutive PCs. Zotac offers ZBOX rigs in two flavours - either as barebones or complete systems with the Plus moniker.

However, although the Plus series ships with RAM and some storage, it does not ship with a preinstalled Windows. Zotac is planning to change that. The company announced that it will start selling ZBOX Plus units with preinstalled Windows 8.1 and Bing. Windows 8.1 with Bing is essentially Microsoft's low-cost OS for cheap PCs. As the name suggests it uses Bing as the default search engine and OEMs cannot use an alternate one.

Zotac says consumers simply demanded systems that would work out of the box. Previous Plus models required the user to install an OS of their choice, but the lack of an OS also managed to keep prices down. The company argues that Windows 8.1 with Bing offers "excellent value" for consumers. The obvious trade-off is that most consumers couldn't care less about Bing.

Windows 8.1 with Bing is coming to the ZBOX CA320 Nano, ZBOX CI320 Nano, ZBOX CI320 and the old Zbox ID18. All of them feature 2GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD, much like the ZBOX ID18 Special Edition. However, we still don't know the prices.